From the Home Remedies Guide, 1881: “For pneumonia, take six onions, put into a large spider over a hot fire, add vinegar and rye meal to form a thick paste, stir and simmer ten minutes, Put into cotton bag, large enough to cover the lungs, and apply as hot as the patient can bear. In about ten minutes change the poultice, continue reheating poultice, in a few hours the patient will be out of danger. But continue until perspiration starts freely from the chest. Make two poultices. Also an excellent remedy for croup, when applied to the throat.”

“For dysentery, take one tablespoon rhubarb root, one teaspoon baking soda, one teacup boiling water and a little peppermint. Take one tablespoon three times a day until unpleasantness passes.”